Comrades & Friends,

Here is your local dispatch for the first week of December 2020. In it you will find a final reminder to register for our Dec 6 GMM before the deadline, a link to our just-released newsletter, local C19 updates, and a report on how right-wing ideology might cause our healthcare system to collapse during this pandemic.

Please stay safe out there.

In Solidarity,


Roland Schmidt
President, CUPW 730

Last GMM of 2020 - Sunday, Dec 6, 6pm Work?

Please join us for our last meeting until Feb 6, 2021. The deadline to register for our next (online) GMM is Friday, Dec 4 at noon. The official meeting notice, online guidelines, and registration information can all be found below. Anyone with a smartphone or computer is able to easily connect to the meeting -- no need to download any new programs or apps, and you don’t have to turn on your camera if you’re feeling shy. Our attendance numbers have been sufficient but not what we had from in-person meetings pre-C19. If you’re intimidated by the prospect of trying an online meeting for the first time, please don’t be! These meetings are very informative and efficient, made all the better by having as many of our members are possible participating. More hands makes lighter work!

(Read more)

Local Newsletter - December 2020

Our Communications committee has another issue hot off the press for you. Highlights include:

1. President’s Report - The Year of the Wildcat
2. Kenney’s Anti-Worker Austerity
3. Workplace Bullying
4. Ending Violence Against Women - Remembering Dec 6, 1989

(Read more)

Local C19 Updates

Since our last update, we’ve had eight more confirmed, or presumptive, cases in our local:

11.26 - EMPP - Shift 2 - MSC
11.27 - Bon Accord
11.27 - EMPP - Shift 3 - Direct Marketing
11.29 - Camrose - Wave 1 - Relief Letter Carrier (presumptive)
11.30 - Rosedale - Wave 2B - Carrier
12.01 - Rosedale - Wave 2A - Carrier
12.01 - EMPP - Shift 1 - PO5 (presumptive)
12.02 - EMPP - Shift 1 - Parcels

Please see below for more information on the mandatory mask policy, where to receive more information on claiming isolation/quarantine pay, and if you are seeking medical exemptions.

(Read more)

How Kenney's Ideology May Collapse Our Healthcare System

“When we talk to frontline nurses and hear their stories, they're exhausted, they're overwhelmed and they're crying for help and saying that they're already digging deep,” says Danielle Larivee, first vice-president of the United Nurses for Alberta, the union that represents Alberta’s nurses. “It never should have come to this and action should have been taken sooner. This ideological libertarian perspective that we should just let it all work itself out has not served itself well and the UCP has failed Albertans on this front.”

(Read more)